The focus this season appears to be Dexter's capacity to love. This is something they've hinted at and written around and I've always wanted them to explore it in depth. So good move, Dexter writers -- you made Billie happy!

I was initially pleased that I was wrong about Vogel, that she was doing her best to help Deb in a week-long marathon therapy session (that would have cost serious bucks if Vogel were charging), and that it seemed to be working. Deb finally pulled herself together. She stopped drinking, cleaned herself up (I could tell because her hair wasn't stringy any more) and she even went back to work.

And then, after watching that final tape of Harry's, Deb stopped by Miami Metro, ran into Quinn, thanked him for everything he'd done for her and kissed his cheek, and I went, omigod, she's saying goodbye forever. Deb was calm and collected because she was no longer in turmoil; she had decided to kill herself. I was getting upset about it, too.

When she sent the car into the water, it was almost a relief. Because I knew Deb could have probably succeeded in killing herself, but she wouldn't be able to kill Dexter. As Vogel said, Deb needed to accept that she might have made the wrong decision shooting LaGuerta instead of Dexter, but that she did it because she loves Dexter. Or she did. I wonder if she's ready to say goodbye to him now?

Dexter told Vogel outright that he needs Deb, and not just as a prop or a mirror. How will he feel now that the person he loves the most (other than Harrison) just tried to kill him? Does he love Deb enough to forgive her? Can they move on and still be family? (At least for eight more episodes?)

Vogel is a fascinating character, and Charlotte Rampling is just kicking major league acting butt in this part. Vogel did a great job with Deb (well, except for accidentally pushing her into committing suicide), but she has continued to misread and misdiagnose Dexter. That scene in Yates's basement may have been the turning point, though. Vogel was alone with Dexter in a serial killer's den and she had made him absolutely furious with her. Was she surprised that Dexter didn't just kill her? Will this finally make her realize that Dexter is not a psychopath?

The Yates stuff was just icky. (And I thought the cannibal last week was gross. That poor woman. Good thing she was blindfolded, huh? Dexter wouldn't luck into someone like Lumen a second time.) Yates, a true psychopath, served as a handy comparison to Dexter. Yates's feelings for his own father were fake, while Dexter's for Harry were obviously real. I also thought that Yates winding up in an institution as a teen helped excuse the mistake that Harry made with Dexter when he was young. What if he had decided instead to institutionalize Dexter?

I was again worried about Dexter while he was breaking into Yates's house, and he did almost get caught. Now that Yates knows that Vogel has sicced Dexter on him, I wonder if Vogel is going to end up one of his victims?

In other news, Quinn did well on the sergeant's exam -- but not as well as Miller. He also failed the "pay attention to Jamie and not Deb" test at Angel's restaurant, and nearly ruined his chances for promotion. Yes, it was a good point that Angel once did much the same thing, but still. That said, I think Angel should pick Miller. Besides, Quinn and Jamie probably won't be together much longer and Angel will be sorry he promoted Quinn. Right?

We learned a bit more about Elway, who became a cop as a way to rebel against his rich and powerful father, not because he loved him (like Deb with Harry). He was again giving Deb drinks, but this time, she didn't take them. Not to bludgeon us with a daddy theme, but Masuka just found out that he was a father, too. When I was watching it the second time, the way he came on to his daughter before he knew who she was made me cringe. But actually, I bet Masuka could be a good father. He was good with those interns awhile back, wasn't he?

Bits and pieces:

-- Harrison has an imaginary playmate who is literally the invisible elephant in the room. Love it.

-- Dexter met a neighbor, Cassie in 4B, and she gave him a Look. They don't usually introduce a character for no reason.

-- Good continuity with Masuka, by the way. I remember him mentioning before that he was a sperm donor in college.

-- Let me repeat that Vogel is a good shrink. Deb was inches away and screaming at her and Vogel stayed calm and kept helping her. I was impressed.

-- Deb's "process" involves scattering papers around her and looking at all of them as a whole. That's Dexter's process too, as Harry described it on the tape.

-- Big credit to the pudgy bystander who jumped in the water to save Deb and Dexter. People do amazing things sometimes.

-- Is Dexter just destined for a watery grave because of where he has dumped his victims for so many years?

Quotes:

Harrison: "She's nice."
Dexter: "But does she have a kissy neck?"
Loved that. I used to do something very like it when my son was that age.

Dexter: "Who's Dan?"
Jamie: "That elephant. You don't see him?"

Vogel: "At least you're no longer avoiding your feelings."

Masuka: "Omigod, you've got my soulful yet haunting eyes."

Elway: "Nothing says family like love and shit."

Terrific. Four out of four invisible elephants,

Billie
---Billie Doux is the founder of Doux Reviews and has been reviewing her favorite shows for quite some time. More Billie Doux.

7 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Interesting to see that you read Vogel's actions as trying to be genuinely helpful to Deb.To me, I kept thinking Vogel's intended solution to the Deb problem is to drive her into suicide. Kept goading her, showing the Harry tapes, then started selling Dexter on the idea of a life without Deb.

I was also pleasantly surpriesed with the little crack in Billie's wall of privacy with regards to her mentioning having a son. I've been reading since the early Lost days before there was even a site, and I never knew she was a mom.

Hey, Anonymous -- I honestly don't think Vogel was trying to push Deb to suicide. Nothing she said during the therapy sessions made me think that. Although she did give Deb that DVD that contained Harry saying he couldn't live with what he'd done, setting Dexter loose on the world.

Actually, I confessed I was a mom at the bottom of the Frequently Asked Questions. It's been there for years. So I bet you haven't read the Frequently Asked Questions, or at any point, asked them frequently. :)

I'm really enjoying this season, perhaps because I thought that I wouldn't. Well, there's that and the fact that this season seems to be more about the characters we love and that they're actually behaving sanely. Also, the kill in the previous episode wasn't graphically displayed - it was just a thunk! urrrg! out of frame, because we all know what happens anyway.The previous seasons have tended to become more gory and messy and icky, this step back this season is the right move.Although, I really think the nudity is uneccesary. Especially the sex-scenes with Joey and Jamie. Who has make-up-talks while having sex anyway?